Posted on May 27, 2021
North German sea-going and inland shipping can now benefit from a new 165m diameter turning basin reports Tom Todd.
The completion means that port facilities in Oldenburg, upstream from Bremerhaven on the Hunte tributary of the Weser, can now handle ocean-going ships up to 110m as well as 135m long inland vessels.
Operations are also faster and safer than previously when two-way shipping on the tidal Hunte between Elsfleth, where it joins the giant Weser, and Oldenburg, was restricted to sea-going vessels of 86m and inland ships up to 100m. Many could sail no further than Oldenburg and had to reverse for the return journey – a manoeuvre which sometimes involved backing up 800m downriver.
The resultant dangers to shipping were among the reasons which led to the decision to construct the turning basin. Work began in 2017 and was originally expected to cost about €12 million.
Ines Petri, a spokeswoman for the Waterways and Shiping Administration (WSV) has told Maritime Journal however the actual final cost came to about €13.5 million. Oldenburg paid a third and the WSV the rest.
German officials told Maritime Journal the project involved the removal of some 120,000 m3 of earth and the installation of about 1,000 tons of sheet piling and 180 anchor pilings. Thieling in Stadland, which handled much of the construction, has said project demands included searches of about 54,000m2 of water and about 13,300m2 of land areas for unexploded WW2 ordnance.
The WSV said the project would make shipping on the Hunte route even more attractive and safer. Officials also underscored its significance for regional shipping on the Rhine and Ems, as well as the Weser.
Although more than 60 km upriver from Germany’s second biggest universal port – Oldenburg is one of Lower Saxony’s busiest inland facilities. It has handled more than a million tons of cargo a year since 1970 and reported 1.06m last year.
Oldenburg officials said the port was now expected to do even better in future with the new turning basin increasing and speeding up turnover. Agricultural products and building materials account for most of the handling with, on average, some 60 sea-going ships and 1,000 inland vessels calling each year.
